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John Van Heller
John Van Heller is the leader of the Farmers Party in Saridan. His leadership has led the young party to the national stage. Childhood Van Heller was born to a strict and traditional Duntrekker family in rural parts of Kaap. Van Heller attended a religious grammar school and then a religious high school. While in high school he explored politics and his idealogy became increasingly radical. He attended college and after graduating returned to his home in Kaap. He purchased a farm only a mile from his parents land. The Farmers Manifesto (Die Boere Manifes) The Farmers Manifesto, Die Boere Manifes in Duntrekkans, was a 1 page essay that Van Heller wrote two months after graduating college. The essay describes an ideal nation run by Duntrekker farmers. In the essay Van Heller argued that strict government rules and regulations would be unnecessary in a nation with virtuous citizens. Van Heller argued that industry and big business plagues virtue and stains the goodness of human nature. He argued that farming builds character and that all people can achieve happiness and success through a combination of farming and education. The essay is summed up by the line, "Self control and personal regulation far out perform the rules of a government; The good nature of human beings must not be plauged by the evils of industry; Government is an unnecessary entity, the people could and should govern themselves." The AFF (The Army of Free Farmers) The Farmers Manifesto rapidly gained popularity among educated farmers that shared Van Heller's idealistic view of the world. George Van Tassel, an educated Duntrekker farmer that lived only 1.5 miles from Van Heller, wrote the The Farmers Demand (Die Boere Vraag) only 2 months after the Farmers Manifesto was published. Van Heller noticed this and organized a meeting with Van Tassel. The two men organized a group of farmers in their region and preached their radical opinions. The new group was commited to protecting thier comunities from the vice of big government and the horrors of industry. The group armed itself and was officially named the AFF. John Van Heller was elected the leader because Van Tassel was viewed as more radical due to the fact that he stated in a speech "Let the farmers rise and coupe the republic. Let us create a virtuous farmers republic." Both Van Heller and Van Tassel quickly became less radical and over the course of only a few months Van Heller's opinions changed entirely. Van Heller said in a speech in May 3841, "I have long felt that industry is a menace to society, I now realize that I was wrong. We must protect our communities from the vices and immorality that come with industry, but instead of shunning industry and destroying it, we should reform it and improve it." Van Tassel openly stated that he no longer agreed with the principles of The Farmers Demand. Van Heller, in February 3842, said, "The Farmers Manifesto described what I thought was an ideal world. I now realize that the world is never ideal, is never perfect, and that close-minded radicalism will never achieve anything. I have opened my mind to ideas from across the nation, the spectrum and the sea, and I now have a complete idealogy; a realistic idealogy that can survive outside the idealistic world of The Farmers Manifesto." In May 3842 Van Heller resigned from his post at the head of the AFF. He became involved in politics. Van Tassel joined Van Heller on his transition to politics. However, Van Tassel also served 2 months as the leader of the AFF before he fully commited to his career as a politician and resigned from the post. After Van Tassel resigned the AFF was leaderless and dissolved itself in August 3842. The Farmers Party The Farmers Party was created in June 3842. The party chose Van Heller as its leader and candidate for Head of State. Van Heller pushed the devolution policies popular among party members in the early months. He also opened commnication with the majority party and advocated compromise.